The human penchant for viewing human-like facial expressions that smile or talk has often led to the development of animated characters that have mouths which open and close. Various mechanisms have been proposed in the past to be included within the head of a doll to cause the mouth of the doll to mimic speaking. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,489 to Villa describes an animated face with three-dimensional facial features. Villa includes a facial control system comprising two springs embedded within two lips, respectively, that are controlled at their terminal ends by pneumatic valves to open or close the mouth. While the mouth rounds when opened, it does not curve into a true smile. U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,469 to Giroud describes a mechanism having two operating rods for moving upper and lower lips, respectively. U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,289 to May et al. describes a mechanism for animating a doll's facial features, wherein a motor actuates various gears to reciprocate a rod, which moves a mouth or jaw of the doll. In general, such devices merely mimic opening and closing of the mouth. However, such devices do not accurately portray an arcuate smile or frown, or other such complex facial movements.
As apparent from a review of prior art, the art of providing a doll having an internal mechanism to cause the doll to open and close its mouth is known, but is limited in the ability to portray more complex facial features. In particular, conventional mechanisms do not enable the realistic portrayal of smiles, frowns, complex speech, mumbling, and the like. The present invention is directed in part to accomplishing this. Further, the present invention is directed in part to providing a mechanism with versatility in that a single mechanism may be used to create various facial expressions with simple adjustments of components. The present invention has utility for use in animated characters, such as human or animal characters, and other animated devices designed to include a face, e.g., apples, waste cans, car grilles, sporting goods, holiday-related ornaments, and decorations, etc. Such devices have utility in the entertainment, educational, advertising, therapeutic, and toy fields.